Newest Weight-Loss Supplement...

The companies haven't come right out and stated that taking their product will help you lose weight, but all their ads suggest that it will! Slender women dancing around in the morning light, a woman seeing her bikini and realizing that summer is quickly approaching and on and on.

Fiber.

That's right! Fiber seems to be the newest drug-free weight-loss supplement and I think it's SO STUPID! Fiber is not a supplement, it's a component of the foods we should already be eating. If you are eating right you DON'T need fiber supplements to poop. If you DO need to supplement then whatever you may think, you are not eating right. Sorry, you're just not (unless you have some diagnosed medical situation in which case you are excused).

Does it really sound realistic to say that you can lose weight and continue to eat white bread egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast, sugary cereal bars for snacks, big processed meat sandwiches on cunningly labeled multi-grain breads for lunch with sugary soda, greasy processed chips for a snack, then white pasta with sugar-added pasta sauce for dinner with alcohol and then follow it all up with ice cream JUST AS LONG as you add a fiber supplement to your day? I'm praying you said no.

You've heard about soluble and insoluble fiber already in numerous t.v. commercials and magazine ads I'm sure. Real natural foods already contain both soluble and insoluble fiber in addition to quite a bit of water. Consider your average apple okay? This little pocket-sized orb of nutrition is actually about 84% water and has more than 3 g of fiber! So let's really look at this fiber thing.

Insoluble Fiber is the fiber that your body cannot break down and will go through your system without much change. This fiber is going to help "move things along", because it is not terribly processed there isn't much reason for it to stick around. So it absorbs a tremendous amount of water and moves quickly through your digestive system. It helps clean you out in other words. And contrary to what you may be thinking, this type of fiber does not cause gas. Repeat, does not cause gas. The bacteria in your system are actually what cause gas, but they cannot feed on this type of fiber and therefore cannot give off any gas of their own. This fiber is found in your fruit and vegetable skins, so do yourself a huge favor and just stop peeling your potatoes and cucumbers! (The skins will not give you gas!)

Soluble Fiber is the stuff that will gel up in your tummy and make you feel full. It's soluble in water, hence it's name. It also slows the emptying the contents of your stomach into your intestines which actually slows the digestion of the sugars and starches that were in your meal. This is extremely good news for diabetics who can help to control blood sugar spikes by making sure their meal includes soluble fiber! This fiber is the one that may cause you gas, and that is because this guy will ferment. Don't think it's gross, it's a good thing! This process results in the creation of short-chain fatty acids which help to lower bad choleseterol in the blood (think back to all those oatmeal and cheerios commercials) and will do all sorts of good things for your immunity cells, intestinal pH, and helps feed the happy GI bacteria. Soluble fiber is the type that you find inside your fruits and veggies, below the skin. It's also found in oats and such, any plant product that kind of gets gel-y when wet (think cooked oatmeal).

Water is not a fiber but it is such a crucial ingredient to add to make sure that the fiber categories I listed for you work properly in your system. Think about it, the fiber categories are named based on how they react to water. It's that important. With or without fiber, if you do not drink enough water then your body will be MAD at you and will punish you in every way that it can. Lack water and you will be tired, moody, headaches may set it and your bowels will be pissed off. This is your body's in-house memo system: "Dear Brain, We are having trouble working under these conditions. Please deliver water or all systems will strike and you will be sad. Thank you, Bowels"

The following has been copied from the MiraLAX website. Please note how it is that all these laxatives work.

Osmotic laxatives draw water back to the digestive tract,
replacing lost water, enabling a normal, complete bowel movement.
Bulk-forming (Fiber) laxatives: add psyllium (insoluble)
fiber to the stool. These can be used to supplement the fiber in your diet. However, they can sometimes ferment and cause gas.
Stimulant laxatives stimulate the walls of the intestine, causing the muscles to
contract and clear the bowel. They work quickly, but can sometimes cause cramps.
Lubricants, such as mineral oil, lubricate the walls of the
intestine so that stool can pass through more easily. They can sometimes
interfere with vitamin and nutrient absorption.
Saline laxatives work by pulling water into the intestine. These laxatives can
remove electrolytes.

Wow. Fun huh? Notice how they all are trying to get water back to your digestive tract? That's because if you need one of the above mentioned supplements then you are lacking BOTH components in your diet, water and fiber. Please recall the apple I previously mentioned which has insoluble fiber in the skin, soluble fiber in the flesh and is 84% water? Yeah, that apple is looking pretty good about now, right?!

But okay, to be fair, fiber supplements aren't laxatives. But consider that same 1-serving apple that has about 3-4 g of fiber depending on it's size (and including the skin of course). Comparably, one serving of Benefiber has...drum roll please...1.5 g of soluble fiber. So you're still going to have to get your insoluble fiber somehow and it's pretty tricky to get insoluble without soluble because they are normally a joint package. So if you eat white bread and drink Benefiber, don't you think it just may be better for you to eat real whole-wheat bread and save your Benefiber pennies?

By eating unprocessed and whole un-messed with foods you are getting everything that you need in easy little nature-made packages! I was made by Nature, so I'm pretty sure that Nature knows how to most efficiently supply me with all the macro and micronutrients that I need. So I will eat from Nature.

But if you were made by a factory then by all means eat over-simplified boxed factory food and load up on supplements that replace what was originally removed in the processing. I'm sure the factory knows the best ways to provide you with your ideal weight, boundless health and vitality. Sure.